What's in a day?
by AelinG
Summary: What is a typical day for a Shur'tugal apprentice like? Perhaps it would be interesting to watch all the ups and downs of a Rider apprentice's life...
1. Introduction

Introduction

250 years after the downfall of the evil king Galbatorix, the Riders of the 3 eggs blue, red and green convened on New Vroengard, the Eastern Haven, to pass down the wisdom of the Shur'tugal order to future generations.

Many try, but few are chosen.

Calwen of the elves, Rider of Zenith and Irvin of the dwarves, Rider of Murray have been tasked with the important duty of ferrying dragon eggs around Alagaesia to find the next generation of Shur'tugal.

And on one fateful day in the city-state of Teirm, a young red-haired orphan girl of mere 7 years of age was one of the very few chosen to uphold the legacy of the Riders. Irvin had carefully placed the egg into her hands for her to hold, an orange streaked with white; and the egg suddenly began to rock back and forth, before culminating in a sharp crack. The egg had hatched! And out came her beloved dragon, a young male.

Irvin encouraged her to pet the dragon, and a sharp pain coursed up her arm. She lifted her hand, and on her palm was engraved the gëdway ignasía, the silvery mark of the Riders!

"A Rider has been found!" announced Irvin. "Argetlam! Argetlam!" the people cried. The girl smiled; she was now a Shur'tugal! She could now strip off herself the mantle of poverty, and move on to the greater heights her mother would have so wished for her to go. "State your name, child," said Irvin. The girl stood before the crowd.

"My name is Clara Morgansdaughter!"


	2. In the beginning

**Yes: assuming you are not a newbie, you know what the disclaimer is. **

A typical day for a human would start with waking up. Since Clara was a human, one would expect the first thing for her to do every day was to wake up too, yes?

Not so for the 15 year old Rider.

The first thing she did every morning was to roll off her bed in her sleep before unceremoniously opening her eyes to find herself on the hard wooden boards of her room. She let out a string of curses before finally getting up to properly start a new day.

_Good morning Miles! _Clara thought to her dragon. She prodded his mind again with her own, and to her aghast he was still asleep. _Typical Miles,_ she thought, before sending him a sharp thought. _Wake up you purple blob of scales!_ she commanded. She sensed his minds groggily awaken, and stalked off to the bathroom to get herself cleaned up.

_And a nice morning to you as well Clara. I was in the middle of a nice dream you know. _Clara laughed. She knew he had been dreaming of hunting — and eating — deer for the entire night; she was privy to nearly all of his thoughts, even in her slumber. As she brushed her teeth, Miles continuously bumped his consciousness against her own, and she would prod back at his; so continued their daily morning struggle against each others' will. _Miles, I would much appreciate it if you would stop attacking my mind for just ONE morning! _Clara yelled into his mind. _After 8 years of such FUN? Of course not. _He replied. Clara sighed and wrung off the droplets still sliding off the back of her hands. Miles could be such a pain to her sometimes, but he was her best friend, a part of her soul — like all dragons are to their Riders.

Clara quickly changed out of her pyjamas and into a set of riding gear. Her first lesson today was Aerial Combat, and she needed to be equipped with the right gear. She shuddered as she thought of her first disastrous attempt at flying without the safety padding around her legs. _It wasn't my fault you know, _said Miles. Clara snorted. _It may not have been your fault, but your scales are really hard you know. _

She rushed out of her room and ran down the hall to the Grand Staircase that would lead down to the foyer. The main block of the Rider's castle on New Vroengard was huge, and the foyer was its centre. You could get to anyplace in the castle from the foyer, so it was natural for her to start all her routes from there. _Will you take the stairs properly this time? _Miles asked. Clara laughed. _No. _She jumped onto the railing and slid down the entirety of the stairway. "This is how you do it!" she yelled, before smoothly landing at the foyer below. "Clara what are you doing! You're late for breakfast and you're still up to your shenanigans?" Clara turned to face the source of the voice. It was Mar, her best friend. "I'm late?" she asked. She looked around her, and true enough, the foyer was devoid of any other Riders. Usually it would be bustling with Shur'tugal waiting for the doors to the dining hall to open. "Oh," she said. "Well come on now we only have a few minutes before they close the doors and stop all the late apprentices from coming in. Let's go!" Mar pulled on her arm, and they raced towards the dining hall together.

They arrived just in time before the custodians locked the towering oaken doors. "Well, well, isn't it Clara, Rider of Miles, late once again! Hurry in then, lest we decide to lock you out," said Harrison, one of the custodians. Clara and Mar walked in briskly, and with a loud bang, the doors closed shut. They hurried and took their seats next to the other apprentices at the left most table. "Kvetha fricaya, Clara and Mar," their elven friend Vanya greeted.

"Are all of you seated?" Clara and Mar looked up at the table at the front of the dining hall where all the major leaders of their Order were seated: Murtagh Wolfsbane, Rider of Thorn; Blödhgarm Ildridsson, Rider of Ness; Fiona Yarinsdaughter, Rider of Cairn; Murlanus Borsson, Rider of Yang; Arya Shadeslayer, Rider of Fírnen; Coryn Bergansson, Rider of Rhylon; Benjamin Ericsson, Rider of Valora; Kandus Nïdhwalsbane, Rider of Odyn, and of course, the grand Leader of their Order, Eragon Shadeslayer, Kingkiller, etc., Rider of Saphira.

The voice unmistakably belonged to Eragon. Clara watched as Eragon swept his gaze around the expanse of the hall. All the apprentices respected him greatly, as the Hero who saved Alagaesia from the sealing of all magic. "Well then, before we start breakfast, I would like to inform all of you to report back to this hall at sunset for a… special… event," he instructed. The hall erupted into spontaneous buzzing. "What do you think this event IS anyway?" whispered Lauren. Clara shrugged. "Perhaps we are playing host to some important visitor from the mainland," she whispered back. "Remember when High King Faolan came…" A loud bang came from Eragon - elda's table. "Silence! Please. No one of great importance is coming to New Vroengard, nor is there some pressing matter which I shall require all of your input. You will have to find out later," Eragon smiled widely. "On to breakfast then!"

Mar eagerly reached forward and pulled the bell cover off the plates of food. "Yes! We've got croissants today!" she exclaimed. She and Clara exchanged excited looks. Like many of the other apprentices, Mar and Clara were voracious gluttons. Clara picked up a croissant with her fork and took a bite. She hummed. _Aren't you in a good mood,_ Miles suddenly said into her mind. _Miles! Where have you been? Did any of the elder dragons tell you anything interesting? _she asked. _Well, no, but I did hear that you two-legs are having a "special event" later," _he thought to her. Clara took another bite of her croissant. All around her, her fellow apprentices were digging into the lavish feast set before them. They would have to finish breakfast soon though; the apprentices were only given 45min to have their breakfast, before moving on to their respective lesson venues. Clara shoved a few more croissants into her mouth, and later gulped down a glass of milk. _Are you at training field A now? _Clara asked. _Of course. _

Mar tapped Clara on the shoulder, and she nodded, getting up from her seat. Mar was also to take Aerial Combat as her first lesson that morning. "What's your first lesson Lauren?" Mar asked. "I'm going to fisticuffs." Lauren said. She frowned. "With Blödgharm - elda." Both Clara and Mar winced. Blödgharm - elda was renowned for his hand-to-hand combat skills, but he was also well known for his tough lessons; he would often spar with his students himself, leaving them with numerous bruises. "Good luck to you Lauren — try not to get too knocked up alright?" Clara said, before turning to leave with Mar for the training field. As they walked out of the already open doors, Mar leaned over and whispered, "Did you manage to snitch some of the food?" Clara grinned.


	3. Fight or Flight

**Thanks to everyone who's reading! I'll continuously try and improve my writing, so reviews will be helpful :)**

**(insert disclaimer)**

Clara and Mar took their usual winding route out of the main gates of the Rider's castle. The castle of the Shur'tugal, whispered among the humans as "The Second Edoc'sil" was located on a high, windy plateau at the heart of New Vroengard, which was itself made up of many different islands, each one serving a different purpose. Ancient stone steps had been carved into the side of the mountain for ease of access on foot, but for daredevil apprentices like Clara and Mar, the stairs were never an option for them.

"Ready Clara? !" Clara and Mar leaped off the top off the stairs and plummeted towards the ground below, wind whipping around their hair. Clara incanted a spell that would slow their descent, but unfortunately, she was a tad too late. Though their fall was slowed somewhat, they still ended up taking a hard knock to the ground. _What a fail_, thought Miles. _Keep quiet_. Clara got up slowly, wincing at the pain. Mar stood up soon after. "Well well, trying to be all BRAVE hmm?" Clara turned around to find herself looking straight into the brilliant green eyes of Terrin Eragonsson, Rider of Astaron. Of course, it HAD to be the son of their Leader to witness her failure. The arrogant boy, she had hated him ever since he had taunted her for a lack of eloquence. His nose bled for at least 5 minutes before he was able to swallow his pride and ask their ebrithil for help. "Feleus - elda will not be pleased if you arrived at his class covered in purple and black," he chided. Clara snorted. As if she cared. "Why don't you run off to Aerial Combat and fawn over him instead of sticking around with us late-comers?" she sneered. Terrin narrowed his eyes. "Very well, but if only to keep the waters calm." And he dashed off towards the training field.

Mar rolled her eyes. "That Terrin, you would think him being the son of the famed Eragon - elda and Arya - elda, they would actually be able to keep him in line," she complained. Clara shrugged — it wasn't her place to know how the Leaders of their Order disciplined their children, though secretly she felt they definitely had areas for improvement. _Like telling that jerk to wipe that arrogant look off his face._ They continued their trek down the path towards the western side of the main island, where their class would commence. The western side of the island had relatively tall mountains and some forestry, deemed an appropriate area for the apprentices to practice their craft in Aerial Combat. They had learnt that the mountains were actually dormant volcanoes that had created the islands in Geography. Lauren hadn't been too pleased about that. "We might want to hurry a bit… if we don't we're REALLY going to become the late-comers," Mar said. Clara and Mar increased their speed slightly and set off on a light jog; soon the training field got closer and closer. The rest of their classmates had already gathered at the edge with their dragons, waiting patiently for their ebrithil to appear.

_Miles, are you coming down from the Dragons' Hold yet?_ Clara asked. _Of course, of course, but I expect to see you at the training field by the time I get there, _her dragon replied. Clara turned to look at Mar, and she could see that she was conversing with her dragon, Avrae, as well. As soon as they came to the edge of the field, they spotted two shapes, one orange, one golden, swooping downwards from the blue above. They landed with a thump next to the other dragons gathered at the side of the training field.

Clara and Mar ran up to their dragons, eager to talk to them face-to-face. _You have food on your face,_ Miles thought to her. Clara reached up to wipe the food remnants off_, _before putting it back into her mouth. _Goodness Clara, I thought you were more sophisticated than that. _Clara stuck her tongue out at Miles as Mar started laughing at their exchange. Miles had projected his thoughts towards Mar for that portion of their conversation. "Ebrithil is here!" one of the other apprentices yelled. Clara and Mar went to stand next to their dragons as the rest of their classmates did the same. Feleus Berynsson, Rider of Gardmore, jumped off the back of his blood-red dragon, landing smoothly on the ground before the awe-struck apprentices. Gardmore came to a rest beside him. "Good morning apprentices! I hope you're all in proper gear today —" Feleus stared at each of the 10 apprentices in his class, closely examining each of their gear. "Good! It seems that all of you will not have to practise looping today," he praised with an approving smile on his face. Clara sighed in relief. Their ebrithil's punishment for improper attire was to make ALL his students practise looping — an aerial manoeuvre in which dragons would have to continuously fly in a vertical loop. One second the riders were facing upwards, and the next their heads would be facing the ground. Not a very light exercise on the head. Or the stomach. Feleus - elda has insisted that such a manoeuvre would come in handy in battle one day, but Clara doubted that anyone would have time to repeatedly perform acrobatics while your enemy was busy shooting fireballs at you.

"Right, now today we shall be having sparring sessions." The apprentices looked at each other and an excited chatter soon begun. Feleus raised his hand for silence. "However, there is a catch." He paused for effect. "You will each be _blindfolded_ while doing so." _Oh boy, _thought Clara. "You will have to rely on your dragons to relay to you instructions and the ambient conditions. Failure to win a round shall result in a round of looping." Clara gulped. She was hardly the best in her class of 6; the best was of course Terrin. "Mount!" The apprentices jumped onto their dragons and quickly saddled themselves in. Yes, failure to saddle up in time will result in looping. The enemy will not wait for you to get up into the air, Feleus had said. He went around pairing the apprentices up. "Clara, you'll be sparring with Igor," he said. She looked at the stout dwarven rider to her left. Igor, Rider of Halsten; she considered him a formidable opponent, but she could probably hold her own agains him quite well. Then again, all their sparring matches thus far had been with both eyes uncovered. He caught her gaze and nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, form up!" Each pair went to an empty space in the training field. Clara saw that Mar had been paired up with Davis, Rider of Selthorn. "Make sure not to bump into other pairs mid-flight — stick to your area. I'm sure New Vroengard has plenty of airspace for little Riders like all of you," Feleus laughed. _Little?_ Miles growled. _We'll show him. _Feleus went around handing out blindfolds, and Clara wasted no time tying the black strip of cloth securely around her head so that it covered her eyes. The world plunged into darkness

_"_Are you all ready?" she heard her ebrithil say. "On the count of three — 1, 2, GO!" The dragons stumbled forward, the sudden call to take to the air unexpected, before quickly regaining their footing and flying up into the blue. Halsten released a jet of blue flame towards Miles, and he quickly did a barrel roll in mid-air, Clara clutching onto the saddle tightly to prevent herself from falling off. Miles instinctively raced steeply upwards, with Halsten closely following behind. He let out another jet of fire, with Miles barely dodging the edge of the embers. _Miles! What's happening? _Clara asked. _I am desperately trying to dodge Halsten's attacks, no thanks to you, _he replied with a sniff. _What do you want me to do? _she wondered. _Just hang on tight. When I need your help I'll tell you what to do_. Miles reared back and clawed at Halsten, who growled in pain from the shallow scratches he sustained. Clara felt Miles jerk back and flip over, and a surge of heat came from above. Halsten roared. Miles must have done some injury to him. _Clara! To your left!_ Shocked by his sudden warning and frustrated by her blindness, Clara deftly drew her blade, swinging it to her left, and there was a crash of steel against steel as her sword met that of Igor's. Apprentices were not given proper Rider swords until their graduation, and that would not be for a few more years to come. Instead, they had to work with standard-issue broadswords for their training. They were still expected to maintain and upkeep their weapons, though.

Miles dived to bring her away from Igor as she felt his sword graze her shoulder. Fortunately they had remembered to dull their swords beforehand. "Thrysta vindr!" Igor yelled. A blast of wind shook Clara, nearly sweeping her off Miles. _Windward! _Miles said."Kveykva!" she pointed her sword windwards, sending a bolt of orange lightning towards Igor. She smirked as she head Igor yell in pain. _I'm going in!_ Miles shot up again, aiming for Halsten's soft underbelly. "Brisingr!" Clara felt a wave of heat rushing towards her.

_Miles!_

_I know I know!_

Her dragon veered to the side before the embers hit his Rider in the face. Though both she and Igor were protected by wards that would prevent any serious injury, she was still prone to minor wounds — and she didn't feel like having part of her face slightly charred. _I think we need a different approach now. Let me try jumping onto Halsten's back. _A match was only won if the Rider or dragon was left in a vulnerable position, such as a sword (or claw) to the neck. _Are you kidding! You're going to leap off into the air BLIND?! _Miles protested. _Just keep exchanging blows with Halsten. I know what to do. _Miles grunted before diving down, Halsten racing furiously after him. Clara quickly unbuckled herself out of the saddle. As soon as Miles informed her that Halsten was side by side with him, she jumped to the side, flailing her arms wildly in front of her. Out of sheer luck, she managed to grab onto one of his spikes. Spike by spike, she slowly scaled up the side of the dragon, not noticed by Igor or Halsten yet. She crept towards the dwarven Rider from the back.

_Clara, Igor is going to attack!_

_What?!_

All of a sudden, Igor yelled, "Thrysta vindr!" and Clara was knocked back by the wind, clinging on for dear life onto Halsten's tail spike. _Clara! _Miles yelled. Clara huffed and reached upwards for the next spike. _Miles, fly back and pretend you're trying to catch me. _Her dragon made a swift u-turn, causing Halsten to flinch and stop abruptly in mid-air. Miles roared and swept his head around, as if he was searching for his fallen Rider. From his position he could see Igor grinning triumphantly down at him.

"Igor!" He turned around, shocked to find that Clara had still managed to hang on! She balanced precariously atop of Halsten's back, trying not to fall off again. Then Halsten rolled over. Clara stumbled forward and gripped hard on the saddle. She gulped for air, unable to get rid of the sick, churning feeling in her stomach that threatened to manifest itself as bile. "Barzul," she mumbled. She pulled herself up onto the brown dragon's back with trembling arms, still weak from the series of acrobatics Halsten had pulled off, and silently drew her sword, trying very hard to keep her balance again. At that moment, Igor turned around, sword in hand. Clara cringed, preparing for him to try and knock her off again with that blasted wind spell of his. He barely ducked as Miles sent another fireball racing towards him.

_Clara I'm distracting Halsten! Now's your chance! _

With Miles still distracting Halsten with his continuous attacks, Clara approached Igor and swiftly raised her blade. He turned, and another clash of steel followed.

_Miles help me!_

_I am trying to distract Halsten here!_

Clara haphazardly swept her blade forward again, only to be blocked by Igor's sword. She stumbled as Halsten veered right. Igor took this opportunity to lunge forward, though Clara fortunately managed to dodge.

_Use the wind spell you ninny! _

_Would you stop for ONCE, Miles?_

Igor made for her flank. Sensing movement, she moved to the side, barely missing the edge of his sword. Grabbing onto a spike for balance, she lunged forward as well. Igor blocked it. "Thrysta vindr!" Igor was knocked out off the saddle and ended up hanging onto Halsten's side, just as Clara was a few minutes ago. She cautiously crawled forward on the dragon's back and thrusted her blade downwards. "I yield I yield!" Igor cried as the blade came a bit too close to his neck. Clara grinned triumphantly. She extended her hand to pull Igor back up. "You win, Clara. I did not expect you to jump off your dragon; and even then, I should have been able to knock you off. But no; you knocked ME off instead," Igor said gruffly. Clara tore her blindfold off and looked around her.

_Miles, you never told me we were above water! _

_Well, you never asked. _

Miles flew in close to Halsten, and Clara jumped onto his back. _That was a good match, Clara, and Miles. _Halsten said. _Same to you and your Rider._ Miles replied. The two dragons raced back to the training field before spiralling their way back down. They were the second-last pair to have finished their match — Terrin and Kendvargh had yet to return. "Results?" Feleus asked when they touched down. "I won, ebrithil," Clara answered. Feleus smiled. "Good, good! Well done Clara. Igor, you did a good job as well. I was scrying the both of you from down here, and I could see you had applied many of the tactics you learnt in your sparring match. Although, I did not expect Clara to be so bold as to jump off her dragon while unseeing. Igor, you know what to do." She beamed in the glow of his praise, while Igor was secretly scowling at her behind her back while clambering back onto Halsten to start looping. When she turned and offered her hand, Igor quickly wiped the scowl off his face and briefly shook hands with her before taking off to the skies with his dragon.

_That was fun Miles!_

_Fun, yet you scared me half to death when you nearly fell off._

_Oh please, I'm not THAT reckless._

_Maybe you are, and you are so reckless that you are reckless enough to disagree with one such as me. _

_Keep quiet Miles._

_Mhm._

They continued their playful banter for about 10 minutes until Feleus said, "Here they come." Clara turned her eyes towards the sky and saw that Terrin and Kendvargh were returning astride their dragons Astaron and Jourgath. Terrin and Astaron were first to land. "I won, ebrithil," he said. Clara snorted. Despite his respectful tone, everyone could see his smug look. Arrogant as always. Kendvargh and his dragon soon landed as well, Kendvargh continuously cursing. The Urgal didn't take losses too well, though thankfully he refrained from any violence… this time. Feleus nodded towards the both of them. "Excellent performance, the both of you. Especially you, Kendvargh and Jourgath, I was very impressed by how you managed to outmanoeuvre Terrin and Astaron with that delightful little spin, loop and dive you did that time," he noted. Kendvargh smirked at Terrin, whose face remained emotionless, his green eyes shining with some intense emotion which Clara could not identify.

"Well done my apprentices, you have all done me proud today. Reflect on today's sparring match, and I would like for all of you to write a battle report of your fight. All those who lost, stay back and practise looping. That is all," he said. The apprentices knew they had been dismissed and walked off to their next class. Mar came running up to Clara, having finished her conversation with one of the other apprentices. "I see you won your match against Igor," she grinned. Clara laughed. "Of course you did, you heard me just now!" They laughed together. "The dragons are going to off for their own lessons now. Don't forget to communicate with Miles what you learnt!" Mar reminded. Clara smiled, remembering the last time she forgot to talk to Miles about her lessons; she ended up having to stay back after class and… well. "Um… it's music class next right?" she asked. Mar nodded. "At the workshop. Let's go!"

_I shall talk to you later Miles, I shall be busy trying to hold a flute the right way round. _

_Of course, of course. I shall be busy at Food, I mean Creature Studies. _

_Lucky you._

_Lucky me. _


	4. Prankster

**I believe this is called a filler chapter? Anyway, thanks for reading! (insert disclaimer)**

"The Riders are not just warriors, but also scholars, artisans and musicians," her teachers have always told her. So as Clara trudged her way towards the auditorium with Mar for music class, she tried not to think too badly about it. _Music cultivates the soul_, she thought. _Bah. As if any music I play "cultivates the soul"_. "Did you prepare your composition?" Mar asked. Clara slapped her forehead. She had forgotten to finish her tune! Sílora - elda was going to kill her. Seeing the pale look on her face, Mar laughed. "Don't worry, you could always tell ebrithil that you were 'sick' again." Clara grimaced when she thought of the last time she had made that excuse. She swore she could still feel the pain in her hands from the thorns she was forced to weed out from the garden. "You know what, I'll just tell her," she said. "Or — you could run up to your room, randomly scribble some notes on?" Mar suggested. "Alright, but you have to stall for me," said Clara, as she hurried up the stairwell to her room, nearly banging into another apprentice on his way to class. "Watch it!" he had yelled after her, but she ignored him in her furious panic to retrieve her manuscript.

She banged open the door and nearly screamed in frustration as she looked upon the messy contents of her room.

_Why hadn't I cleaned it up?_

_That is something which we are _ALL_ wondering. _

_As if you clean up your room._

_I am a dragon, I do not NEED a room for privacy like you two-legs do._

Clara went to her desk, sifting through the piles of half-used paper and the greyish-silver bits of pencil lead she had broken. Finally, she found it. "Alright! I'll just—" Suddenly, she heard thedoor lock. She dropped her manuscript and turned the knob. It did not open. "Laudrin!" she tried, but the door still would not open. Panic filled her. Who had locked her door? She can't be late for class, not again! She drew her sword and hacked down the door. She spotted a shadowy figure rushing away from the apprentices' rooms and quickly screamed at him to stop. But he had gotten away.

All of a sudden, a voice came from behind. "Are you alright, child?" he asked. Clara spun around and blinked. Standing there was the Lord Rider: Eragon Shadeslayer himself. She had hacked down a door, and the first person witness that was her Leader himself. She bowed. "I am perfectly fine ebrithil— but I think someone had locked my door, and I couldn't get out when I tried opening it, and I tried using magic, so I hacked down the door, and—" "I understand. You panicked. If I may…" Eragon Shadeslayer stepped up to the door, or what was left of it anyway. He fixed his eyes onto the remnants of the door and without a word, they floated up and reassembled themselves in the doorway. Clara's eyes widened. He could use magic without the use of the Ancient Language? Impossible! She knew from Applied Magic class that it was extremely dangerous to use magic with just your thoughts, as it was too easy for the spell caster's mind to wander. The fact that Eragon - elda was able to successfully do so told her a lot about his level of skill. "Well then, a good day to you Clara Morgansdaughter. You might want to report this to your in-charge. Hurry off, before Sílora gives you a lecture," he said briefly to her, before heading off around the next corner, blue cape billowing behind him. Clara blinked. She had just encountered the Lord Rider. And she was a complete, bumbling mess.

_Well, well._

_What is it now Miles?_

_You had to have the Eragon - elda fix your door for you. You did not even thank him._

_Miles —_

But the dragon had withdrawn himself from her mind. Cursing, she ran down the staircase to the Aesthetics Workshop down another corridor. She flung open the door to find her classmates practising their pieces. Mar waved at her, and surprisingly, so was Lauren. She always thought that Lauren was too stiff to do that kind of thing. "Clara! You are terribly late!" Her ebrithil scolded. Clara had to close her eyes to stop them from rolling. "I am sorry ebrithil, but when I was trying to get out of my room just now, someone locked the door, and I was trying to get out," she explained. Sílora - elda shook her head, probably too tired to argue with her, and merely directed her to sit at one of the desks. Mar waved her over to sit between her and Lauren. "You're lucky ebrithil didn't go into a full-blown rant at you," she whispered.

"Now that we are all here," Sílora flicked her eyes towards Clara, "we can get started on today's lesson: A short study of the dwarven epic, the _Gurafner Vussok." _Clara stifled a groan. Music studies were the most boring of all. "Composed by the dwarf Kogan Merrinsson, he created it after his best friend died in the mines after a horrific encounter with a margrathr, which, as you should all know, is a demonic manifestation of flame infused with dark magic. Now, Kogan…" Her ebrithil dragged on and on, periodically displaying some pictures which Clara would peer at before drifting back boredom. She watched the hands of the wall clock slowly move around its face, waiting for the lesson to finally be over. Mar nudged her, and bringing her out of her stupor. "What is it?" Clara asked. "Look out of the window," she whispered. She twisted to face the window, but could not see anything. Mar pointed towards the sky. Clara smiled. A bunch of dragons were flying, swooping, dancing in the air. She thought she could see Miles there too. As the lesson went on, she watched the dragons caper about. Funnily, she saw a certain golden dragon being knocked to one side by another familiar orange dragon.

Half an hour passed. Then an hour. Then finally when two hours had passed, Sílora looked at the clock and said, "Well, I guess we end off here for now. Homework is to do a critique of one of Merinsson's many works. You are all dismissed." Clara stretched and yawned again. Finally, it was time for their mid-morning break. "Clara, Lauren, do you want to visit the Garden?" Mar asked. The Garden was a cluster of forests near south of the castle; though it was rumoured to hide a beast's den, many an apprentice would enter the forest, to play and to practise their skills, and generally just to have a bit of fun. "What? You're not hungry?" Clara complained. Her stomach had been growling for the last half hour of the lesson. "Well if you're so hungry then you can go to the dining hall yourself. Just Mar and I will go. We'll meet you later during Combat Magic," Lauren suggested. Clara nodded. "See you both later then."

She sauntered off to the dining hall. Plates of food had already been arranged by the chefs on a table at the front. Ah, she could smell chicken! She ran forward, eager to grab a wing. Or two. Or three. It did not matter. "Hey Clara," a boy next to her greeted. It was Ragnar, the human Rider who had been her guide during apprentice initiation. Clara opened her mouth to reply, only to realise it was stuffed with an assortment of food. Bits and crumbs spilt out. "Er-lo," she managed. Ragnar laughed. "May we eat together?" he asked. Clara nodded and grabbed her plate. They occupied a table near the window. "So how are you getting along Clara?" he asked. She swallowed a mouthful of chicken before answering. "I'm still late for class, I still hate music lesson, I still like chicken. So pretty well I should think." She took another bite out of the chicken wing. "Nothing bad or strange occurring? Really?" Ragnar questioned. Clara thought for a moment, then realised there was something that she needed to tell him. "Well actually…" She launched into her story of how someone had locked her in her room and how she needed to hack the door open, only to find Eragon - elda standing in the doorway. Ragnar's brown eyes twinkled as he laughed. He ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "It's not funny, Ragnar!" Ragnar coughed to stop his laughter as she finished her last bite of the chicken. "You could just bring it up with the Rider in charge of the apprentices. That's — Coryn - elda, right?" he suggested. Clara nodded. "Eragon - elda already told me that. I think I'll go search him out later, I need to go to class soon. See you sometime, Ragnar." He smiled and returned the farewell.

Clara went out of the dining hall. Combat Magic was taught by — she was so shocked when she found out — Arya - elda herself. She had to admit, Arya - elda was one of her favourite teachers, though she could be a bit distant sometimes. She headed to the eastern wing of the castle. There was a room there that Arya - elda often used for her classes, a room with large windows and a high ceiling, "So there'll be space for you to practise," according to her. Clara navigated her way around the maze of corridors intersecting each other. It was easy to get lost in the castle, and few signs, if any, had been put up. It had made finding her way around a lot more difficult during her first few weeks at the Rider's castle, though her teachers later on claimed that it was to improve the Riders' pathfinding skills. She had to admit that they were right.

A sudden sharp sound from her left drew her attention. An animal, perhaps? The castle was quite prone to infestations now and then, given its size and the plentiful dark corners here and there for pests. She ventured forth down the left corridor. Her curiosity had to be fulfilled. The corridor was silent; the only sound was her footsteps against the cobble, and the crackling of torches on the wall. This corridor, she remembered, led to an old storeroom. It was quite short as well, and before long she came upon a dusty old wooden door. It was covered in a layer of cobwebs and grime from years of disuse. Clara had only been inside once, and even them only accidentally. She had not stayed long. It seemed that the storeroom contained a cache of sorts for abandoned items. She pressed her ear against the door. There was no sound.

_This is strange. _

She pulled down on the lever. It took her a considerable amount of effort to open the door, for the hinges were rusty. A strange smell wafted out of the room, likely the smell of mold and mildew. Wary, she entered the storeroom. It was pitch as night, not a single torch to be seen. "Hello?" Clara said. From the way her voice echoed back, she could tell that the room was a lot larger than she thought. In the distance, a bell rang. That signalled the start of the next lesson. She sighed and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Her exploration would have to wait. For now, she would have to go to class.

_How interesting._

_Miles, you think so too?_

_Why of course my dear Clara. I am as curious as you are._

She smiled and got on her way.


	5. Of plants and pests

**Hello readers! Sorry for the hiatus, but here's the chapter! Please review so I can improve, it's much appreciated. Thanks! **

The rest of the apprentices in her class filed into the classroom not long after, including Mar and Lauren, who were caked in mud from the waist below.

"What happened to the both of you?" Clara asked when they entered, surprising them both. "You're early," Lauren remarked. Clara frowned. "Anyway, Mar and I simply fell into an unseen pool of mud. That is all," Lauren explained. The side of her mouth twitched, as if she was reliving the moment. Clara burst into boisterous laughter. "You both look so ridiculous!" she managed to say through her laughter. Mar poked her in the side. "Not funny."

Arya - elda still had not arrived when the final apprentice entered the classroom. Eric. "Hey everyone! Why don't we practise a little before ebrithil gets here?" Eric suggested. Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Practise? And destroy the room like we did last time? Barzul NO!" she protested. "Don't worry, I don't think the spell Arya - elda taught us last lesson can cause that much destruction," he replied cheerfully. "What about the rest of you?" The other six apprentices, including Clara and Mar, agreed.

_There's no harm in practising. Besides, we could make ebrithil a bit happier._

_Teacher's pet. _

_I am not anyone's pet Miles._

Lauren sighed. "If we get into trouble, I am not to blame." Clara shrugged. She didn't think the plant locomotive spell would cause too much damage —what could plants do? She collected a venus flytrap from an adjoining storeroom, as did the other apprentices. "Does anyone remember how to do it?" Mar asked. Lauren placed her palm over the plant and said, "Yasdra e sero_!" _The little carnivorous plant immediately responded, snaking upwards to coil around Lauren's wrist, like a snake. "Drasne e sero_!" _The flytrap released Lauren's wrist and started to grow. Soon enough, it had grown to reach Lauren's shoulder. "I think that's how you do it," Lauren said, stepping back to admire her work. "Oh yea? So how do you make it attack?" Another apprentice asked. "Atsókn!" The flytrap leaned forward and snapped lazily at the apprentice. He jumped back. The flytrap shrunk back into its pot, seemingly waiting for another unlucky victim. Clara stifled her laughter.

So the apprentices began practising, with varying degrees of success. Clara was able to grow her flytrap alright, but she couldn't get it to attack. It seemed it was feeling a bit lazy that day. "Atsókn!" The plant did not respond. "Atsókn!" she ordered with a little more force. But the plant remained motionless in its pot, jaws clamped shut. Clara grumbled in frustration. She could not even get a _plant_ to move. Lauren walked over. "Need help?" she asked. Clara nodded. "Well first of all, you have to…" Lauren's words were abruptly interrupted by a sharp cry from their classmate Eric. "HELP ME!" he screamed. She turned to look, and saw that Eric's plant had bit down on his _head_! Clara didn't know whether to scream or laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Mar and one of their classmates, Calanon, rushed over and tried to pull the plant off his head. Eric screamed as the curved teeth of the venus flytrap just dug deeper into his head. "Stop that!" Lauren shouted. "I have an idea!" said their classmate Benjamin. He drew his sword and hacked the plant off its stem. The flytrap released its hold on Eric and dropped to the floor writhing. "Ugh. Get out of my sight," said Benjamin. "Brisingr!" The flytrap burst into flames, the fire turning it into a pile of ashes. Eric whimpered from his position on the floor, holding his bleeding head. Loric laughed from a corner. Clara blinked, not really processing what had just happened. "What a fool, Eric!" Loric jeered. She glared. Loric was another one of the rascals, even more notorious than Terrin. At least Terrin acted somewhat sophisticated when carrying out his pranks. Loric was a complete jerk. "Oh, and you would be able to keep your composure while being eaten by a ravenous plant, I'm sure," Clara said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't be such a wet blanket," Loric retorted. She chose to ignore him.

It was at this moment that Arya walked in to find a crabby Clara, a laughing Loric, a whimpering Eric and a bunch of apprentices crowding around and tending to him. Pieces of venus flytrap were scattered around the room, with a few still burning. "Everyone, sorry I'm la—" she had begun, but cut herself off. She could instantly tell that the apprentices had been "practising"again. She shook her head. This would be the last time. She cleared her throat to gain attention. The apprentices immediately froze. "A—Arya - elda?" Calanon stuttered. She strode past the flytrap remnants and knelt down next to Eric. "What injury is this?" she asked. "It's a bite from a venus flytrap, ebrithil," Lauren answered nervously. Arya placed her hands on both sides of Eric's face. "Waise heil." Quickly the wounds on his head sealed up. "What happened here?" she asked. "We have no idea ebrithil, we were all just practising that spell you taught us last lesson, and I guess Eric here cast a spell wrongly," Loric drawled. "Again," he added. Arya smiled. "Then I would like for you to show Eric, and the rest of the class, what is the _proper _way to perform the spell." She picked up a relatively whole flytrap from the floor and handed it to him. "In fact, I want you to make the plant be able to attack of its own volition — that is, be able to decide who you want to attack on its own. I'm sure it will be nothing for such a _gifted_ apprentice such as you." The class went silent. Of course, this was not the first time such a punishment had happened either. Failure to cast the spell specified meant — well, they didn't actually know. The penalty changed all the time. Clara secretly grinned. Arya - elda's voice had sounded so sincere, yet she knew that her ebrithil had clearly intended to be sarcastic. Loric smirked. "Yasdra e sero." The flytrap began to move its head about, as if it was scanning the room for prey. "Drasna e zero." The flytrap grew. Loric licked his lips. Clara could see he was getting a bit nervous now, and apparently, so did Lauren. "What is it Loric? Do you need help?" she taunted. "Lauren, you are not to mock your fellow apprentices, no matter how annoying they may be," Arya reproached. Loric growled at Lauren. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

"At—atsókn óvinr re geryth den hugr?" Loric said to the plant. Immediately the plant rose up and clamped its jaws around his hand. He screamed as he tried to shake the flytrap off his arm, which only dug its teeth even deeper into his flesh. Arya shook her head. "The word for enemy is 'óvindr' not 'óvinr'. 'óvinr' refers to the person who cast the spell; that is, _you_," she explained. "Yes, ebrithil I get it, please help!" he begged. She shrugged. "You saw what Benjamin did just now; cut the plant off with you sword," she said. "But it's biting my sword hand!" he complained through clenched teeth. Arya narrowed her eyes. "Is that a problem?" she asked softly. Loric unsheathed his sword with his right hand and after a few tries, awkwardly slashed the flytrap off. The jaws unclamped, having been separated from the rest of it, and flopped to the floor. Loric gasped, grasping his arm right above the wound. It was bleeding. Arya leant over to inspect it. "It's not a heavy wound. You'll live," she informed him. "And Loric, bullying is strictly prohibited among the Riders. We are supposed to uphold the highest standard of character in Alagaesia. If you keep it up, you _can_ and _will _be suspended from training," she added.

She turned to the rest of the class, who were busy trying to look every part the obedient student. "Now that's settled, let us begin our lesson proper. Skyrr," she said. The flytrap remnants were swept to the side of the classroom. "If none of you have guessed yet, we will be learning the spell which Loric tried — and failed — not to perform just now." She retrieved another venus flytrap. "The proper spell is 'atsókn óvindr re marrith'. Much more efficient than the long-winded wording that Loric used, I should think." She repeated the spell, this time directed at the venus flytrap. It swept its greenish, jawed head around the classroom. "Right now there are no enemies I want it to attack. But let's say I did this…" Arya retrieved some sort of cardboard cutout from the storeroom. All the apprentices, save Loric, cracked up when they saw who the cutout was of. It was an ugly caricature of the evil king Galbatorix, his head disproportionately large compared to his body. Clara couldn't breathe. She was laughing too hard.

_Miles look! _She sent him an image of the Galbatorix cutout.

_Ahahaha! How amusing!_

_It is, isn't it?_

_Much more than Dragon History. _

_That's how I feel during music class._

_Perhaps I shall have more empathy next time. _

_Really?_

_Nope. _

Clara ended her conversation with her dragon to look at what was happening. Her ebrithil had placed the cutout in front of the venus flytrap, where it was still standing sentry in its pot upon the table. "The venus flytrap _should _know of my feelings of enmity towards Galbatorix, because of the spell used, and—" She stopped herself when the venus flytrap proceeded to rip up the cutout to shreds with its fangs. "You can see what it will do. All that's left is for all of you to practise! Carry on now, there are more venus flytraps in the storeroom, but take care not to be attacked by them again," she instructed.

Finally! Boring lecture over. Clara was first to get her second plant. She, Mar and Lauren were practising together, as a group. "Atsókn óvindr re marrith," Lauren said to her plant. The expected result occurred. "We need a cutout right?" Mar rummaged through the storeroom to find some cardboard. She quickly drew a semi-accurate picture of Loric with a marker, placing it before the flytrap. Clara and Mar laughed, laughing even harder when the plant ripped Loric up. Lauren's only reaction was a small smile. As Clara and Mar tried the new spell on their plants, using a cutouts of a sundavrblaka, Clara asked Lauren, "Why do you think ebrithil was so late for class today?" Mar sniggered. The other two raised their eyebrows at her. "Lauren, remember I had to make a quick detour for the bathroom just now?" "Yes I do…" she said cautiously. Mar was near to bursting out in laughter again. "I saw Arya - elda with… well, you could guess," she whispered, as if discussing an uprising with fellow conspirators. Clara blinked as Lauren turned slightly red. "Mar, we are not to gossip! That is unbecoming of you," she hurriedly whispered back. Mar shrugged. "It's true, I saw it with my own eyes alright. Besides it's no secret that they… they do have a child, after all." "Shush Mar Arya - elda is walking this way!" Clara hissed. They busied themselves with practising the new spell. Arya nodded at them approvingly as she strode past. The trio sighed in relief that their ebrithil had not overheard their conversation. Otherwise — Clara shivered to think of what could have happened to them. Probably worse off than Loric.

After a few more tries, Clara finally managed to get her plant to destroy her cutout. As she swept up the remains into the dustpan, she remembered that she had to tell Lauren and Clara something. "You know, someone tried to lock me in my room before class just now. Then when I escaped, I heard a strange sound from an old storeroom on my way to class," she told them. Mar's eyes widened, while Lauren's closed. Clara looked expectantly at them both, hoping for some sort of explanation. "Do you think someone is trying to prank you?" Lauren asked. "I bet its that good-for-none Terrin," Mar piped up. "He's always doing that kind of thing, remember he even tricked Wicked Wren into drinking swamp water…" "But he nearly got socked in the face for that," Clara replied, snickering. Arya - elda came over to check on their progress. "Well, I think you have all successfully performed the spell!" she said. "Arya - elda?" Clara cut in. Arya nodded for her to speak. Clara repeated what she had previously told Lauren and Mar, and Arya gazed out of the window thoughtfully. "I am sure it's just some prankster who locked your door. As for the strange sound… the old storeroom, you say?" Clara blinked and nodded. "Perhaps… never mind. You and I shall look into it after class," she told her. Secretly, Clara was thrilled to be investigating something with her ebrithil. "Of course Arya - elda! Speaking of which, isn't class nearly over?" she pointed out. Arya nearly jumped when she looked at the clock. She was right. Arya clapped her hands together. "Alright students, class has ended. If you have not been able to perform the spell yet, do practise, _but_, only under the supervision of one of your seniors. I can't really trust any of you to practise on your own just yet," she sighed.

The apprentices each bade farewell to their ebrithil as they left the room. After a while, only Clara and Arya remained. She watched as her ebrithil went around cleaning up the scattered pieces of cardboard littered throughout the classroom. Arya caught her staring. "We can't have a messy classroom, now can we?" she teased. Clara blushed and immediately went forward to help her ebrithil with the clean-up. In a couple of minutes the floor was bare once again. Arya strode out of the classroom, beckoning Clara to follow, who hurriedly scrambled after her ebrithil. She was often annoyed by the speeds at which elves could travel at. Being a human, she knew she would never be able to match their skill in magic or agility in combat, and that irked her to no end. While her ebrithil was merely strolling at a leisurely pace, Clara had to run a bit so she wouldn't fall to far behind. By the time they reached the old storeroom at the end of the corridor, Clara was panting slightly. Arya looked at her quizzically. "Are you alright, Clara?" she asked. "I — I am fine, ebrithil," Clara managed. Arya smiled sympathetically and opened the door of the storeroom. She coughed, having swallowed some dust. "This storeroom has really been abandoned for a long time," she remarked with watery eyes. "I went inside to check when I came across it just now, and all the items it contained were either really old or rotting," Clara confirmed. Arya stepped inside. "Istalrí," she muttered. The torches mounted on the walls came to life, proudly burning once more. Clara peeked inside. Shadows were thrown across the room from the dim lighting. "Not very cheery in here, is it Arya - elda?" she asked. Arya laughed. "I'm afraid not, Clara. Let's go in." Arya checked the right side of the room, while Clara checked the left. "What did the strange noise sound like?" Her ebrithil inquired. She thought for a moment. "Sort of a— a choking sound. Like someone being strangled," she informed, her throat tightening as the sound replayed in her mind. Arya narrowed her eyes. "Strange. We have never placed anything live in here," she said. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in as much information as possible. "Vísa ner vándr," she incanted. A spell to reveal evil.

Nothing happened though.

"Clara, get out!" Startled by the unexpected warning, Clara hightailed for the door, which slammed shut behind her. "Ebrithil!" Clara screamed. She heard a "calm down" from behind the door, then a "Brisingr!" Green light spewed out from the gap below the door, and Clara quickly removed her leg from there before it got singed by the flames. Just a few minutes later, Arya stalked out, carrying a charred creature by the leg . The surface of the door was black.

_What is that monstrosity?_

_I believe it is an Ándvyrgh, Clara. _

_What's that?_

_Hmm, well they are harmless creatures to us dragons — we can eat them after all — but they are quite poisonous to you two-legs, their fangs and all. Pitiful, really, they are quite tasty._

_You know I haven't had my lunch yet._

_Oh well. _

"Ebrithil, that's an Ándvyrgh, right?" Clara asked. Arya smiled. "How clever of you," she answered. "We have a bit of an infestation — they crawled in from the outside through the aquifers, but it's not too much of a problem."

_Where do you think the infestation could have come from, Miles?_

_Probably one of three main colonies out in the forest. _

Arya snapped her fingers. The Ándvyrgh corpse disintegrated. For some reason it was no surprise to Clara that her ebrithil could use non-verbal magic as well. "Ebrithil, could you tell me more about the Ándvyrgh?" she asked. Arya seemed surprised by her question. "Ándvyrghs are mammalian creatures. Rodent-like, but with venomous fangs, so they're dangerous to any not proficient in blaze magic. That's their weakness. Much bigger than normal rodents — do you know what capybaras are? — yes, even bigger than those. Considered major pests, except to the dragons, who occasionally hunt them for food. Normally they make choking sounds like you said just now, but when aggravated they _do_ growl — yes, just like that Clara!" Arya smiled. Her student blinked at her, then blushed. "Actually, ebrithil, that's my stomach… I'm hungry."

Arya blinked back. And they both laughed together.


End file.
